Key takeaways
- Register the license in myPATH before the first taxable sale, and calendar from the frequency shown on the account.
- For 2026 periods, the September return and the Q3 return are both due October 20, 2026, and the October return is due November 20, 2026.
- The timely filing discount is the lesser of $25, $75 or $150 by frequency, or 1 percent of the tax collected.
- Philadelphia's 2 percent is collected at the sale and paid to the Commonwealth, and BIRT is a separate April 15 city return.
Register the sales tax license in myPATH
New customers register through the Department of Revenue's Pennsylvania Online Business Tax Registration service and can do it without logging in to myPATH. An owner who already has a myPATH login should use the Register New Business Tax Accounts feature from inside that login, so the history stays under one identity.
Register before the first taxable sale. New licensees file quarterly under 61 Pa. Code § 34.3, so the first return is a quarterly one, and that due date is much easier to hit when the account already exists when the first quarter closes.
Work out the filing frequency
The Department sets each account's filing frequency and says it can change for later years based on the amount of tax reported. The regulation sets the tests. A licensee that reported $600 or more of tax in the third calendar quarter of the preceding year files monthly. A licensee that reported less than $600 in that quarter, but more than $75 for the year, files quarterly. A licensee whose total tax does not exceed $75 for the year can be authorized to file semiannually.
Worked example. A client reported less than $600 of tax for July to September 2025 and more than $75 for the full year. The account files quarterly in 2026. If that third quarter had reached $600, the account would file monthly, and its January 2026 return would be due February 20, 2026.
Calendar from the account in myPATH, not from last year's return. The frequency on last year's return is not the test for this year.
2026 due dates by filing frequency
Sales tax is filed by period, so these dates apply to returns for periods in 2026, not to a tax year. Monthly returns are due on the 20th of the following month. The September 2026 return is due October 20, 2026, the October 2026 return is due November 20, 2026, and the December 2026 return is due January 20, 2027.
Quarterly returns are due April 20, July 20, October 20 and January 20 for the first through fourth quarters. The third-quarter return covering July to September 2026 is due October 20, 2026, and the fourth-quarter return is due January 20, 2027. Semiannual returns for January 1 to June 30, 2026 are due August 20, 2026, and returns for July 1 to December 31, 2026 are due February 20, 2027.
February 20, 2027 is a Saturday. The regulation does not say how a weekend due date is handled, so confirm the day in myPATH before you rely on it. The next deadline for monthly filers is November 20, 2026. A quarterly client whose third-quarter return did not go out by October 20, 2026 is already late, and that is the first call to make.
The timely filing discount, worked through
The vendor discount is a timely filing discount. It is the lesser of a fixed cap or 1 percent of the tax collected. The cap is $25 for a monthly filer, $75 for a quarterly filer and $150 for a semiannual filer. The percentage is applied to the tax collected on the return, and the cap is set by the filer's frequency.
Worked examples. A monthly filer that collected $1,200 gets $12, because 1 percent is $12 and that is under the cap. A monthly filer that collected $3,400 gets $25, because 1 percent is $34 and the cap is $25. A quarterly filer that collected $5,200 gets $52. A quarterly filer whose 1 percent passes $75 gets $75, because the cap applies.
Failure mode: a monthly client whose bookkeeper uses the quarterly cap overstates the discount, by up to $50, on every return where 1 percent of the tax collected is more than $25. Set the cap from the account frequency, and do not claim the discount on a return that is filed after the due date.
Philadelphia's 2 percent local tax
Philadelphia's local sales tax is 2 percent, which makes the combined rate 8 percent on a taxable sale delivered in the city. Act 21 of 2026 became law on July 12, 2026 and bases local sales tax on the point of destination. The delivery-based rule is enforced starting October 1, 2026, and the law reaches tax years after December 31, 2025.
The rule that matters most to a firm: a business outside Philadelphia that already collects the 6 percent state tax must also collect and remit Philadelphia's 2 percent tax on taxable sales to Philadelphia customers. Allegheny County's 1 percent local tax applies to sales to its customers in the same way. Decision rule: if the client is already registered for state sales tax and has taxable sales delivered to a Philadelphia address, add the 2 percent to those sales, and ask for a delivery address on every order.
Reporting is the open question. The city's page says vendors collect the tax at the time of purchase and pay it to the Commonwealth. It does not name a separate Philadelphia sales tax return. Before the first return, have the client find the Philadelphia line in myPATH. If it is not there, call the Department at 717-787-1064 before the due date.
Failure modes: charging 2 percent on sales delivered outside Philadelphia, and forgetting the look-back. The law reaches tax years after 2025 even though enforcement starts October 1, 2026, so a client with Philadelphia customers earlier in 2026 should be asked for those invoices now, not after the return is filed.
Keep BIRT separate from sales tax
Philadelphia's Business Income and Receipts Tax, BIRT, is a separate city return and has nothing to do with the 2 percent sales tax. The city says BIRT must be filed and paid by April 15 of each year for business activity from the previous calendar year. The tax year 2025 return was due April 15, 2026, and the tax year 2026 return is due April 15, 2027.
The city will automatically grant an extension of up to 60 days to file, but an extension of time to file does not extend the time to pay. Plan the payment for April 15 even if the return is extended.
The $100,000 exemption is gone for tax year 2025. The city says there is no longer a $100,000 BIRT exemption, so a client with small Philadelphia receipts can no longer assume it owes nothing. Ask for Philadelphia gross receipts by month during the year, not in April.
Monthly routine in myPATH
Build the return from the sales report, not from bank deposits. Pull taxable sales by ship-to state and by Philadelphia address for the period, tie the total to the tax collected in the general ledger, and file the figure that ties.
myPATH supports ACH debit for sales tax. The payment file asks for a Warehouse Release Date, which the Department defines as the date to withdraw the money from the bank. Set it so the withdrawal clears on or before the 20th.
Send the client this request each month: “Please send me your sales report for last month by the 8th, with a column for ship-to state and a separate total for ship-to Philadelphia addresses.” Keep the request and the report in the same folder as the return, so the file shows how the number was built.